


Chasing Dreams

by Lspark (orphan_account)



Series: none [1]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe, College student Wally, F/M, Hope, Lawyer Iris, Lawyer Linda, Love, a little mature content but not really, central city is more like nyc, faith - Freeform, homeless Barry, life - Freeform, mature concepts but not content, set in current political climate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-06
Updated: 2019-06-11
Packaged: 2019-10-23 04:58:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17676890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Lspark
Summary: Iris is a successful lawyer who minds her business and is tough whether doing her job or not. She is trying to prove something to herself and the world and then one day she and a homeless man's world's collide. He's a dreamer, in more than one sense of the word, who changes both her perspective on life and her life as she knows it - as she changes his.





	1. The homeless man

**Author's Note:**

> Surprise!!  
> *Editing mistakes*

**Iris**

Iris walked down the now familiar halls to arrive at her firm's doorstep. 

Walking was now familiar to her as well. She had to walk from her subway stop all the way to the building her firm was based in. Had to walk past the base receptionist ‘Maisie’ who worked for all the offices in this building as well as the security guard who was obviously in relations with Maisie - she’d walk up to the elevator and would hop on just in the nick of time to make it to the 44th floor where her firm was held. 

She swiped her card at the front blurred glass door. As she pushed open the door she was welcomed to a beautiful frenzy and busyness of bustling lawyers that she grew comfortable with. She had a small smile on her face as she held her briefcase and straighten her black pinstripe pant-suite jacket. The stripes were grey and she loved the suit, it was gifted to her by her brother who told her that she should look like a boss since she was to be a senior associate lawyer at her new firm.

Iris has been practicing law for about five years now, she’s comfortably settling into her early thirties and enjoying her womanhood and singleness thoroughly. She’d been through enough shaky relationships to know that she could trust herself more than those who would use her for their emotional needs or wants, or those she couldn’t feel any real connection to. Now, all that was on her mind was climbing the ladder at this firm, she wanted to go all the way to the top. She wanted her name on the wall outside the firm, the one people see when they step out of the elevators and walk up to the office. The one they see printed on papers and notebooks owned by the firm. 

Currently, the names were “Parker Makelski Martin” those were the named partners of this small but reputable and growing firm. This firm was going to see great success in its future, Iris could feel it and she knew she wanted to be a part of it. She’d been working at PMM for three weeks now and it was already starting to feel like home for her. She could easily get there from her apartment building which was just thirty minutes away by subway. Yes, she would have to walk a few blocks from the subway, but she actually enjoyed it on most days. It was a half-corporate, half-residential neighborhood that her office building was located in and for that she was glad. It wasn’t the safest area in town but once clients increased for PMM and they started making more money overall, they were sure to move to a more prime location somewhere further in town. 

As Iris made it to her office with a view, she set her briefcase down on her desk and dropped on her seat with a huff - she didn’t realize how tired she was until that moment. 

Instantly there was a knock on her glass door. 

She removed her high-heels under her desk and then replied, 

“Yes?”

“Excuse me Ms. West, but Mr. Martin wants to see you in his office, he says he has a new potential client for you.”

Iris smiled at the also newly hired assistant of Roger Martin, one of the named partners at the firm. Due to Iris’ excellent corporate law skills and her experience she already entered this fairly new firm with a good position and a lot of respect. Her goal now was to maintain that respect for as long as it takes to get her name on the wall. 

“Karen, you are a gem, thanks for telling me.”

Karen grinned at Iris and nodded. 

“Could you tell him I’ll be there in five?” Iris asked. “I’ve still got two other cases to sort through and then hand over to my favorite paralegal John to take a look at. Have you had breakfast this morning by the way?”

“Sure no problem, and I could hand over anything you need to John myself, no need for you to do that, just ring me when the time comes.” 

Iris smiled. 

“Oh! And no, I missed breakfast _again_ you won’t believe how late I woke - uh - I mean, I had to rush this morning.”

Iris laughed sympathetically at the young assistant. She couldn’t have been older than 23. She felt for her working in such a high maintenance environment when she’s just learning the ropes of life. Karen confided in Iris early on that she felt like she didn’t know what she was doing half the time. It was then that Iris decided she would encourage the dark auburn haired and freckled girl, not to mention she realized that helping her emotionally and giving her encouragement had its perks. Like for example, she offered to do things for Iris without Iris asking her, and that made Iris’ life a whole lot easier as well. 

“No worries Karen, I miss breakfast all the time, but we talked about this, it’s always good to have a little yogurt in the fridge to grab before you go in the morning.”

“I know but I live with a roommate and she eats everything when she comes home from work it’s so annoying! She always gets back before me and I see nothing there. Work hours here are _insane_.”

“Okay, why don’t you get us both some breakfast? I had some oatmeal and an apple this morning and I know with more work to do I’m going to need something better than that. So, when you’re free and _only_ then, would you mind running down to the nearest Jitters to grab me a cup of Joe and a bagel brunch set? Get yourself something too, on me.”

Karen looked like she might cry. 

“Oh, I’d love to do that.” She replied. “Thank you so much! Gives me an excuse to get out of these stuffy offices for once!” Karen stated and then after Iris handed her some cash, she left Iris alone. 

Once the girl was gone Iris sighed as she leaned back into her chair. She brought out the paperwork in her briefcase from her two other cases. They were almost over, she was definitely winning both of them, but she needed John to sort through some new information she discovered while working overtime at home. She didn’t work in billable hours usually because she didn’t care to show off that she worked hard. Especially because that meant unnecessary targets on your back. She left a little later than normal so that she could get her extra billable hours but not too late. Also, she didn’t feel like the neighborhood in her office area would be all that safe too late into the night. 

After sorting out everything Karen came back again and Iris handed off the paperwork she wanted John to sort through and thanked Karen for her help. 

Then she straightened her jacket and headed over to Martin’s office. She was the only female senior associate in the firm, as it wasn’t that big. There were only three senior associates including herself, out of the twenty-something associates that worked for the firm full-time apart from independent associates or summer ones that helped out with cases from time to time. That’s why Iris left her job at a major law firm to join this growing one, because she knew here the workforce was young, some of the partners were young and overall they were learning their ropes and she could come in and find her place much easier than in a major law firm where it would take her much longer just to be noticed. 

For example at her previous job, as one of the few women at that major firm, she knew she had to work extra hard to even be noticed. In fact, she and her fellow women of color in that firm faced discrimination both because of their race and gender. Iris managed to make a name for herself though, despite the odds, by winning cases and standing out to clients, but they refused to even move her from a junior associate to a senior associate stating that she needed more billable hours and further years of experience. However, Iris knew boys who came after her, who worked less than her who got more opportunities to receive the best cases and they were promoted with much fewer hours than even the normal standard. She was tired of it, as were many of the women in the firm, but most of them decided to stay. Except for Linda, and it’s not that Linda cared about climbing the ladder so to speak but she just wanted more benefits and they wouldn’t give them to her. Both Linda and Iris got hired by PMM once they left. 

Iris and Linda Park were not particularly close outside of work, but they got along swimmingly well as co-workers. Iris didn’t do friends very well. She had some friends from high school but they all shunned her because she became a lawyer and they felt they couldn't relate to her anymore. In college, she was so focused on passing the bar, and graduating at the top of her class that she completely forgot about her social life.

Where she grew up there was no dream to be a lawyer by most of her classmates, their dreams were to marry a rich man, or become a singer, artist, actress, work a steady corporate job - most weren't able to even consider being a lawyer as a possibility. But Iris knew that she wanted to be a lawyer when her father was wrongfully framed for stealing something after years being the security guard at a mall. He was wrongfully accused and they couldn’t do anything about it. During the commotion about it they were asked if they wanted to go to court to settle it by a kind lawyer lady who influenced Iris’ trajectory in life. 

Iris said,

“What would that do?” 

“Well, if your dad went to court, I could prove he was innocent.” 

“They won’t believe you even if you have the evidence.” Iris said rolling her eyes. She was twelve at the time. 

“I don’t need the evidence, I just need the truth, I’ll figure out the rest.” 

It was that sentence that sparked something in Iris to be the best law-abiding, honest, ethical corporate lawyer she could ever be. She just needed the truth, she’d figure out the rest. It was way more fun to play within the lines of law and find that even with a bureaucratic mess you’re able to pull through, than to cross them and play dirty tricks, essentially ‘cheating’ in order to win a case. It also made her opponents who didn’t follow the law or who made their clients lie a lot more fun to beat. It was a satisfying chase for justice that Iris wanted to continue to do for the rest of her life, within the confines of corporate law of course. She preferred offices to courtrooms and civil cases to criminal ones. 

It turned out that her father refused to go to court even though Iris begged him and the woman offered to reduce her price. He said if she wouldn’t go pro-bono he couldn’t afford her. That broke Iris’ heart, the woman couldn’t do pro-bono because she was trying to make it as an independent lawyer and no corporations would take her father’s case. Either way, he didn’t want to go through that hefty process when all they were doing was giving him a fine and firing him from the job. But that was how the Wests went from minimum wage to welfare and Iris knew she had to work extra hard in school so she could become a successful lawyer and afford to do pro-bono. She knew she wanted to help families who needed it somehow in some way. She just wanted to do justice.

So with all that in mind, with everything she’d been through, all she sacrificed and all she fought for, Iris knew it was time. It was time to have a law firm that would hold her name, and she would work as hard as possible to get it. 

With that in mind, she knocked politely at Roger Martin’s glass door. 

The entire law firm was glass-walled and everything was transparent. 

She loved it. 

Roger put out his cigar and opened his window to air out his office before he opened the door for Iris. She entered his office and tried not to cough viciously at the smell of cigar smoke. She hated that.

Smiling at Roger though, she waited for him to speak. He popped a mint into his mouth.

“Iris!” The older white man exclaimed. Roger looked like a wise professor Iris had in University. He had all those wisdom worry lines and blanch white hair. He was the one who hired her. Apart from his smoking habits, Iris didn’t have anything serious against the man. She almost liked him and his attitude towards life. The _almost_ was key in the fact that he was oblivious to Karen’s needs and overworked her and that when he hired Iris he specifically said,

“Was looking to add some diversity! You are both female and black, what a win!” It didn’t really matter that he added, “And extremely talented.” Because obviously it was really based on the first two categories and her luck that he just _happened_ to be open to hiring diverse associates. Linda told her he said some choice words about her being Asian as well when she got hired. His ignorance and obliviousness were some of Iris’ least favorite things about him, that was for sure. 

Other than that though, she could at least stand to be around him. 

“Bourbon?” He offered her the spirit as he poured some for himself.

“I’m all good, thank you.” Iris replied. 

“Ah, you sure?”

She nodded. 

“You said you have a new client for me?” Iris asked. 

“Yep! Except I want you to meet them first this time rather than me introducing them to you in my office. They’re gonna be here at around three pm today.”

“Is there a reason why?” Iris asked. 

“Can I be honest with you Iris?”

“Why not?” 

“Okay, the client is suing a company she worked for of stealing her son’s idea that she had in her pocket and accidentally dropped. She’s not making any money out of it and soon after they implemented the idea she was fired. She’s a single mother of two and could really use the help.”

“Is she black?” Iris asked. 

“Race doesn’t matter, I just think she would feel more comfortable with you.”

“She’s black.”

“Okay yes she is, and it’s the perfect case for you! She’s a woman and she’s black, I don’t think I need to introduce her to anything or walk her through anything. You do it and if she agrees to sign with us that’s your first official client. I gave you the other two, I basically held your hand through the process. You help this woman get the paycheck she deserves, I’ll send every other client I know fits you your way before even bringing them into my office. You can even choose your clients!” 

“How did she even find out about this law firm?” Iris asked. 

“Her current lawyer called several law firms because he knew he couldn’t win the case but he wanted her to win. He said her only request is she doesn’t want a lawyer who can’t take her seriously.”

“Why would anyone _not_ take her seriously?! I mean, her son’s idea was stolen.”

“Well according to her lawyer, her son is only ten years old and she works as a cleaning lady in that company. So not many people are going to believe her. I’m not sure I would if I’m really being honest, but you can tell if she’s telling the truth, right? You have some kind of truth radar - and I’m not just saying that because she’s black, I mean that. Like when that sleazebag lawyer came here telling us that he confirmed the deal with the other party, you told me he was lying to scare us and we shouldn’t fold. You were right! So glad you assisted in that case. So, anyways, look here Iris, it’s your third week here and you’ve already saved our asses multiple times, so here’s your first real case. Win this and you’re one step closer to making partner.”

Iris scoffed and shook her head. 

“Don’t dangle partner in front of me to make me do whatever you want.”

“I’m just saying, I recall you telling us you know you deserve to be a partner in a years time, well how about in six months time?”

“I was going to take the case the moment you told me what it was about, you can stop the begging now.” Iris joked. 

Roger grinned at her. 

“I could hug you right now!” He said taking a step forward with arms wide open in elation. 

“You better not or I’ll call HR on you.” Iris told him seriously and he instantly took a step back, deflating. 

Iris tried not to laugh. He was too comical, but at the same time, she learned quickly from her other firm that hugs were a no-go for her, especially from males. 

“But thanks for letting me know about this case. Going to love it.” She told him and smiled. 

“There’s that winning smile! I know you’ll win it.” He told Iris as she walked out of his office. 

She was not as confident as she wanted to be that she would indeed win it, but she knew she wanted to win it. The case sounded like just the fight for justice she’d been looking for. 

***

**Barry**

He woke up to the sun scorching his back. It must be midday or so. He got up from his sleeping position on the pavement and stretched. His long limbs flying high as he made sure to stretch out all the strains and pains in his back. Sleeping on a mere jacket on the pedestrian side of the road was getting more comfortable the longer he did it but still just as painful at the same time. He got into his usual sitting position and held out his bowl for people to give. He liked to call it his donation bowl. 

As he waited for people to come out of the office building hosting many different companies and law firms for lunch, he set his bowl beside him. Soon there was the usual walk of people going out to get lunch and a few of them who did pass by him gave him a few dollars here and there but most of them just ignored him and walked right by. 

There were two women he didn’t see go out for lunch together often, going out for lunch, one was an Asian American and the other was African American. They looked like they were happy acquaintances. As they walked by him he picked up some of their conversations,

“Bravo on your first real client!”

“I don’t know if I’m excited out of my mind or terrified, please remind me to get Karen something for lunch.”

Their voices faded out as they walked by him.

The usual. He has seen the African American woman before, she passed by him several times and he sometimes caught her staring at him, especially when he was helping Jimmy fix his bike. Or talking to Alan’s Abuela. 

He enjoyed picking up on bits and pieces of conversation though because it allowed him to keep up his English practice and make sure that he could speak better and better. The irony of his memory loss was that he couldn’t even remember what language he used to speak. He thinks it was French or Italian, maybe Spanish because he can understand those languages more clearly. 

There were two more people passing by him, they were lawyers too.

“Did she manage to already have her own client - no connection to Martin?” One said. 

“I heard that it’s a pity client, there’s no way she’s going to win it.”

They walked by again. Barry shook his head, office gossip. 

He didn’t know how long it was he was sitting there for because time was relative to him as he did pretty much nothing all day.

Sometimes he would walk over to the public park and find a spot by himself where he could dance. Barry realized one day when he watched some street dancers that he loves to dance. It just flowed out of him naturally and he enjoyed every moment of it. He considered dancing to get donations but he didn’t want to be made fun of, he was still figuring out how he wanted to dance and what story he wanted to tell through his movements. 

That said, after what he estimated was about an hour later, the girls came back towards him and he tried his best not to stare at them, he didn’t want to be rude. However the girl who the other girl called ‘Iris’ had the prettiest smile he’d ever seen. She also just made him curious. He wanted to know more about her and this client she had. 

“Iris, he’s still here.” Iris’ friend said. They must’ve felt like he couldn’t hear. 

“Don’t be so loud he can probably hear you. He’s here every day, you order in lunch so much that you wouldn’t notice.” Iris said. 

But she notices?

Barry never felt more self-conscious in his life - that he could remember. He could tell they were coming up to him. His hand went on his full and patchy beard, then to his hair. He looked up and watched as the woman he now knew was named Iris, placed a bottle of water by his bowl and then a five dollar bill in his bowl. 

“You should get a job.” She muttered avoiding eye-contact with him. She had a wonderful face, beautiful features, and a calming but stern voice. He smiled at her. 

“God bless ya.” He told her. His voice sounded foreign and hoarse from not using it much. The woman looked shocked and actually looked him in the eyes, she then looked further shocked and quickly stood up straight and joined her friend. 

Her friend then stepped forward and said,

“Just fyi, the five dollar bill was from me. She bought the water, but I convinced her to give!” 

Barry laughed. 

“Thank ya!” He replied. Iris then dragged her friend so they could move further away and then cross the street. 

“Linda, we aren’t making conversation!” She complained to her. 

And that’s how Barry found out about Iris and Linda. 

He would try to remember them from then on. 

***

Later in the afternoon, Barry didn’t know the time exactly he saw a plump woman with dark brown skin and a cleaners uniform hurrying into the office building a few blocks and across the street from his usual spot. Following her was a tall gentleman with a red tie, pale with sharp features who looked like he didn’t even want to be there, holding many files under his arm. 

Was that a client? 

Barry felt like he was watching something unique unfold. 

***

 **Iris** _3:20pm_. 

Iris stared at the beautiful thick black woman in front of her panting and sweating like crazy having obviously had to run to try to make it on time. She then looked at the tall white man behind her with a red tie looking unconcerned and detached. She welcomed them both into her office. 

“Hello ma’am, thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to see me, please do be on time for proceedings though.” Iris quipped. 

The woman groaned. 

“Don’t tell me you’ll give me grief about being late? Dear, I ran about eight blocks to get here before 3:30, I work three different jobs since I got fired from that stinkin’ company.”

Iris emphasized. 

“Sorry.” Iris said softly. 

“Mmhm, the only reason I agreed to come to this office is that the man I spoke to on the phone said you’d respect me. I need that, especially with the day I’ve had.”

Iris nodded. She should’ve chosen her words more wisely. The last thing she needed was to make this woman upset, and it’s also the last thing she wanted. 

“Truly sorry, I understand you did your best, thank you for making it at all. Please do take a seat.” 

Iris gestured to the seats for both her and her lawyer. They sat. 

“Can I offer you a drink?”

“Water, please and thank you.” The woman replied. Iris rang for Karen through the company phone system. 

Iris looked at the woman’s lawyer but he didn’t seem to want anything. 

Karen came quickly. 

“Yeah?”

“Do you mind getting a glass of water for Ms. -”

“ _Mrs._ Grayson.” The woman helped Iris out. 

“For Mrs. Grayson here.” Iris said. 

Karen smiled and nodded. 

“So here are all the files you’ll be needing.” The man suddenly spoke almost scaring Iris since he’d been so silent, he extended files to Iris. 

“O-okay.” Iris said taking the files from him. 

“May I ask your name?”

“Thomas Grayson.” He stated, and Iris’ eyes widened. 

“Is that a coincidence or are you two?”

“We’re married.” He stated nonchalantly. Iris was shocked out of her mind. _Didn't Martin say she was single?_

That was the second time she was shocked because earlier she heard the homeless man who begs for money’s voice for the first time and he sounded - he sounded young. Like he was her age or a little younger. Like he could definitely do more with his life than lay around all day. And then when she looked into his eyes she saw kindness, and he looked almost nice? Was she losing her mind? How could she possibly think that a homeless man looked nice? How could she be wondering why he ended up that way and want to talk to him and find out more? It confused her heavily why his young voice and kind eyes affected her so much. And then she had seen him do nice things for people, they could’ve been strangers for all she knew. He fixed a kid's bike! She couldn’t believe her ears when he spoke. Even Linda said he sounded and looked too young to be on the streets with nothing to do. Linda said she might try to get more information out of him, but Iris said it’s best to leave him alone. They don’t know where he’s come from, where he’s been or who he is. Just because she was curious didn’t mean she had to pry about a strangers life. 

Yet now she was shocked again because this lawyer was married to this woman. That would definitely also be a problem so he most certainly could not take her case. 

“You’re a lawyer.” She asked the man. Now suddenly personality sparked in his eyes, he held mirth in them. 

“Yes.” he answered her clearly amused by her bewilderment. 

“And you’re a cleaner?”

“Yes.” 

“And ya’ll are married?”

“As of two weeks ago by law.” Mrs. Grayson answered. 

“And I’ll be funding her case until we win.” He told Iris. 

Iris leaned back in her chair, still winded. 

“So let me get this straight, you two just recently got married so that he could help you pay for the funds and so that after you win you can give him the money back somehow, especially in the case of divorce and it is all in the contract of your prenup, let me guess?”

The man looked at Iris impressed. 

“But why are you still working three jobs?” Iris asked the woman.

“He may be a lawyer but that doesn’t mean he’s earning jack. He is more broke than me, but he also is white and can take out loans better than me. So he can pay ya’ll full for my case and we can talk about any extra after the case is all done and over with.”

Iris was stunned. 

“Wow, okay. This is my first time dealing with this kind of situation. You could’ve asked for pro-bono -”

The woman laughed.

“No firm in their right mind would take this case pro-bono. If ya’ll lose it’s a shame on your whole firm for believing me and if ya’ll win you probably wouldn’t make nothing unless I offered. And to be honest, I don’t want this case to be pro-bono. Because I want to choose how much I give ya’ll when I win my 10 million dollars.”

Iris’ eyebrows went up. 

“What?!” She exclaimed. 

“That’s right. Those bastards owe me ten mil for stealing my son’s idea. It’s going to make them so much more money.” 

Iris looked between the man and the woman. They both looked dead serious. She sighed. 

“Okay, I need to you to tell me everything. From when your son came up with the idea and why, to why it was on a paper, and when you realized you dropped it and when you got fired. I want you to state the process slowly and carefully so I can record it and go over it along with the documents you provided.”

The two of them looked at her a little surprised she was willing to actually hear them out. 

“Well, alright then Markie, we got ourselves a believer!”

“Don’t call me that please Elouise.” The man said. Her name was pronounced ‘eh-low-ise’ and was an interesting name Iris hadn’t heard before. Such was Markie’s name. Iris laughed at the exchange. 

“You two should just stay married.” She remarked. 

The two of them started at her blankly. 

“Okay, forget that, will you tell me everything that happened or not?”

Elouise and Markie nodded. 

“Okay, let’s start from the very beginning,” Iris turned on the recorder on her phone. “Note, you are being recorded and I have your consent, right?”

“You have our consent.” Both of them said. 

“Great, let’s get started.”


	2. Second encounter

**Barry** _At the nearby park - the following day_

It’s a beautiful day when the sun cuts across the lawn and Barry looks up to the bright shinning ball beyond. He wonders why life moves so quickly for others and so slowly for him. He takes his time in the park, his favorite place to be while waiting for the day to pass by a little more interestingly. There are a few people he recognizes, and of course the dancers who come at the same time every Friday to practice in the park. 

Out of the blue a dog ran up to Barry, and he grinned at it and gave it a pet. 

He was excited to see his friend ‘Max’ the schnauzer, who wagged its tail excitedly at the person he’s grown accustomed to. Max belonged to an elderly woman named Mable Lee who couldn't take care of him that well and therefore didn't know how to keep track of him at the park. The dog would run off and find Barry who would then return the dog to the kind woman who usually brought Barry a home cooked meal in Tupperware and utensils he could use. 

After Barry grabbed the red ball out of the dog's mouth and tossed it, Max ran like clockwork straight towards the direction of the ball. Barry then used that as an opportunity to scan for the kind elderly woman, Mable Lee.

“Barry, right?” He heard the familiar voice of Mable behind him. 

He turned to her and smiled. 

“I can't confirm or deny that, ma'am, but that's what Pastor Briggs said was on my fake driver's license.” 

It was the answer Barry usually gave to the woman as she would normally start their meeting with the same question. 

She just wanted to check if he remembered anything new each time. 

The first time that she met him she asked Barry what his name was and he said he wasn't sure and that in reality he didn't know for sure. He explained how he was found by a pastor in his car with a heavy concussion right by a river. He was taken to the hospital and when he came to he couldn't remember anything about himself. The pastor who found him told him everything they found on him that they could read. Some of it was in code and others in Italian but the handwriting was nearly illegible at that point. 

The two quickly became friends as well. Barry told her about his simple days, if he met anybody interesting and how much he made begging. She told him about her children who rarely visit her anymore and how she likes to go to the supermarket to see families shopping together - she misses her family. She was a single mother most of her life and never found another love. Barry was still hopeful for her, and she would laugh him off about it. 

“How’s the week been?” She asked as the two of them walked naturally towards Max who was rolling in some grass now. 

“It’s been _different_.” Barry admitted. 

“How so?” She asked curiously, Barry hardly ever had anything new to report, except for when he fixed a kids bike one time. 

“There’s this lady…” He drifts off and Mable is even more intrigued. 

“Oh _is_ there?” She asked with a small knowing smile. 

Barry catches on. 

“No, no, no - don’t mean anything by that…just that these two women they gave me things and talked to me! But it wasn’t even just that, Ms. Mable Lee, they actually _looked_ at me. Especially one of them, I think her name’s Iris? She looked me straight in the eyes, and I don’t know, that just meant a lot to me. Never had someone around my age actually give me a second glance. Ya know?”

“Wow,” Ms. Lee said. She seemed just as stunned as Barry. “They must be some really great ladies then.” She added. 

Barry shrugged. 

“I wouldn’t know, but a part of me hopes that they aren’t afraid to talk to me again.”

“Especially this Iris?” Mable smiled. 

Barry looked surprised, 

“What? No - well, yes, but her friend too! They’re both great - or could be great.”

“Don’t worry Barry, you’ll find out soon enough, nice people don’t stay away too long. They’re always looking for another way to help.” She laid some wise words. 

Barry nodded in agreement. 

***

 **Iris** _Later that day in the evening_

Iris slammed the door of her apartment behind her as she got back in. A bad habit of being exhausted after a long day at work. This new case was going to be a fun one, but also it would take a lot of research. That Tuesday she spent time going through the recording with all the information and then she started researching into the company and any past lawsuits it had won or lost. That particular company has had five different copyright infringement lawsuits in only three years, minor things mostly which the company overthrew quickly before it ever went to court. Iris definitely kept note of this. 

It seemed like the company was used to winning these and she could tell that the company probably tried to buy the clients before they could really go to court. However these clients were settling for much less than they would’ve gotten if they went to court. Iris didn’t want her client, a woman who worked so hard her whole life to take care of her kids - and literally got married to get money to make this happen - to lose this case. And after all, Iris truly believed her after hearing the whole story. Elouise was going to get her win. She was going to fight for her. 

Iris discarded her suit piece by piece before changing to home clothes and landing on her couch with a sigh. Her home was quiet, just how she liked it. Peaceful sounds of nothing but her breath was what she wanted to come home to every night. At least that’s what she’s firmly convinced herself of. 

A knock on her door jolted her up in surprise. 

_Is that Wally?_ She wondered. Sometimes her brother would just pay her a visit out of nowhere - which she hated, but she also secretly loved it, she didn’t mind company when it was her brother. However she was sure he had a class tonight. 

She pulled on her robe and cleaned up her messy discarded clothes before heading to the door. 

Out of habit she checked the security cam screen linked to her door to see that it was one of her exes. She rolled her eyes. 

Opening her door she crossed her arms at Phil Clark, he was a lawyer who worked in the previous firm she worked in. They had a relationship for several months but Iris broke it off. He looked worn out and his eyes were red, like he had been crying.

“They fired me.” He told her. 

Iris’ stone cold face softened a bit at that. 

“Sorry to hear that.” She admitted. He was a really good lawyer she remembered and he didn’t deserve that. 

“Can I - can I come in?” He asked. 

Iris looked at him for a moment further trying to decide in her mind if this was a wise idea. She then slowly nodded and stepped back so he could walk through her door. He closed the door behind himself and Iris led him to her kitchen area and grabbed some water for him. He sat on one of her high-chairs as she set the water before him and stood on the other side of the kitchen island table. 

“You’re doing well for yourself.” He remarked as he drank. 

Iris scoffed. 

“Did you expect me to be begging on the streets after leaving?”

“You left one of the best firms in the city.”

“For an up and coming one that’s paying me more.”

Iris winked. 

“Right, that’s pretty amazing.”

“So, what do you want to talk about Phil?” She asked. 

“I want you back.” He stated. It was a statement. Vulnerability in his eyes. 

Iris sighed. 

“Getting fired emasculated you, I get it, but we’re not getting back together. I’m sorry.”

He looked shocked at her blunt response. 

“Really Iris? I know you’re like this, but I thought what we had was special?”

“It _was_. It’s over now though. I’m happy being on my own and I wasn’t really all that happy with you. When I think back I remember feeling a lot of times like I was under your shadow. And considering you got promoted even though I was there longer than you and you didn’t vouch for me when you could’ve, I was right.”

“Iris -”

“If that’s really the only reason you came here, you’ve wasted your time. I’m good Phillip, you need to figure out what’s next for yourself.”

“But I lov-”

“Don’t say those three words, you’re not going to get it back.” Iris told him. 

The man’s eyes started to water and Iris feeling a bit bad, took his hand in hers. 

“Figure yourself out my friend. You’ve got skill, you’ve got talent. I know you care about me but I’m not interested anymore. Sorry. Also, the fact that it took you getting fired to come to me, that says a lot.” Iris told him. 

He sighed and withdrew his hand from her. 

As he got up and started walking away he turned back,

“I would’ve married you in a heartbeat, but I knew this day would come. How are you going to find love Iris if you never give anyone a real chance? I came to you straight after receiving the news, I was planning on working my way up there and hiring you back and hopefully…we’d have a future. My plans were cut short. I was thinking maybe you were wrong, that the system wasn’t rigged against you, but then I found out it was. I spoke up, got fired. You were on my mind the whole time after we broke up. But now I see all you think about is your success.”

Iris was speechless for the first time in a long time. Not everything he said was a justifiable excuse, but it did all make sense. She walked up to him. 

“I’m sorry.” She uttered softly, tears in her eyes. 

“Me too,” He said. “Hope you let yourself love someday Iris.” He told her. 

She reached out to him, but he pulled himself away and left her home. 

Iris didn’t know why but she felt tears slip down her face as she just stared at the closed door before her. 

“Dad, I miss you.” She whispered as the tears kept falling. 

*** 

**Barry** _End of the following week - lunch time_

Barry was eating a piece of bread he bought with some of the money he got while begging while he watched the regular lawyer lunch crew heading out of the building. He got used to knowing when their lunch time was, because it was midday and they often headed out. Some of them, used to seeing him at this point, would start to regularly donate to him, and he was able to save some to figure out an eating schedule that made sense. That, being able to head to the church if he needed more, and Mable Lee’s food was keeping him going. 

He hummed a tune to himself as he tapped his feet, hoping that today might be the day he sees the two ladies, and that they talk to him again. Since the previous week when he told Mable Lee about them, he hadn’t really seen them both together again and neither of them talked to him. Iris didn’t really go for lunch as much, and when she did, she avoided him obviously. Even so far as not crossing the street until walking further than where he was. She avoided looking at him, and barely acknowledged him. Iris’ friend, who he realized was Linda, she ended up dropping a five dollar bill occasionally for that week, but then this new week she’s been busy and not coming out for lunch either. Linda also didn’t really make any conversation with him, her mind seemed elsewhere. So, he was back to square one, and he felt silly for even feeling hopeful that they might talk to him. He was, him, a homeless guy, and they were successful beautiful lawyers. Ridiculous. 

He was continually humming when he saw the woman he saw almost two weeks ago now, with that same cleaning lady uniform, she saw him this time, and walked up to him. 

“What you doing out here begging like this? Do you need a job son?” She asked him. She seemed like a genuinely nice person. 

He remembered what Iris told him. 

_“You should get a job.”_

“What kind of job?” He asked, smiling at the woman. 

“My name’s Elouise dear, I can find you a simple little job you can do once or twice a week for about fifty bucks. That’ll help you save up a bit, wont it?” 

Barry nodded. 

“Well then, what’s your name?”

“Barry ma’am.” He replied. 

“Nice to meet you Barry, you ready to get paid, let’s shake on it!” She extended her hand to Barry. This was the first time anyone’s offered to shake his hand like this. He’s gotten hugs and warm contact before, but this meant something different, this was respect. 

Barry grinned at the woman, and got up from his sitting position. She looked up at him and smiled as well. They shook hands. 

“Well, aren’t you a tall one.” She laughed. 

“So is he.” Barry said, looking behind her to the tall man scowling at him. 

“Oh him?” Elouise turned back to see him. 

“He’s Markie. His real name is Thomas though. But I call him Markie. He doesn’t like it so much.” She laughed. 

“Nice to meet you Markie.” Barry said, mirth in his eyes. The man scowled even more. 

“Let’s go Elouise, you can’t keep talking to every stranger you see.” He told her, but Barry heard the concern in his voice and smiled knowingly. 

“Nice to meet you ma’am. And thank you for offering the job.” Barry said. 

The woman nodded. 

“I’ll come back to find you later and we’ll get you all set up!” She told him. 

“It’s not dangerous is it?”

“No, you just gotta know how to fix stuff.”

Barry grinned. 

“That, I can do.”

***

 **Iris** _Moments later in the offices_

Iris watched the newly married couple bicker all the way to her office door and then straighten themselves up as if she couldn’t see them with the all glass layout of the offices. 

She tried not to laugh as Mrs. Grayson fixed her husbands tie. They were so staying married. 

Then they knocked and she told them to please come in. 

They entered in and sat down. Since their first meeting they’ve had a few others and the three of them were getting a lot more comfortable with each other. 

Iris offered them water she had already gotten for them before hand, and they thanked her for it. 

“So,” Iris began, “we’ve got some progress. Essentially since the company you work for is a clothing store, and you said that what your son drew was a design that literally they’re going to start printing soon. I say let’s let them print it first. See how well it does it in the market in just the first opening weeks and then we drop them with the case.”

“Brilliant!”

“Nope!”

Thomas and Elouise said at the same time. 

Iris looked at them both. 

“Which one is it?” She asked. 

They looked at each other. 

“It’s a no from me, and I’m the kid's mother so -” 

“Elouise, you don’t understand, this case is pretty impossible to win without stakes - and right now we have no stakes, none.”

“I don’t want this company to profit off of my son’s idea!”

“We understand that ma’am, but the problem is if they don’t profit off of it, we don’t have a case and it looks like they really will, based on what I’ve seen. They’ve profited heavily off of all their other copyright infringement cases, but this time we’re going to catch them - they might profit at first, but if you want to catch them, you’ve got to let them think they’ve won.”

Elouise thought about it for a moment. 

“Two weeks.” She stated. 

“We’re putting the case out two weeks after they drop the shirts.” 

Iris smiled. 

“Sounds good. Seems like we’ve got a case! I’ve got track record of what they’re going to try to do after we drop the case, so brace yourself for any intimidation or any amount their going to offer you. Also we’ll discuss the other copies of your sons drawings. We need at least a few to prove he’s been at this for a while.” 

“Great. Can do.” Elouise said. 

“Alrighty, you two, let’s go over a few more details.”

***

An hour or so later Elouise and Markie were heading out of Iris’ office after saying their goodbyes and she was going back to her work, but she overheard something that shocked her,

“Why were you talking to that homeless guy even?”

“We’re not going back to that topic Markie, let’s go, I’ve got another shift and you need to help me pick Sam up from basketball practice at school.” 

They said this to themselves but Iris picked it up. She pretended to keep on working as they left her office and their voices drifted away. 

Once she couldn’t see them anymore she sighed and leaned back in her chair. 

“Which homeless guy? The one with the kind eyes?” She muttered to herself. 

***

Iris was heading home quite late that night so she held her bag close to herself and walked quickly. 

Even as she was speed walking she noticed that the homeless guy was still there, lying on the ground. 

She tried to ignore him like she’d been managing to do, but for some reason, hearing him brought up reminded her of how he reacted when she and Linda talked to him. Not fully knowing why, Iris found herself walking up to him. He was lying down, sleeping. Her heart constricted, he was sleeping on concrete while she would go back home to her double bed with a mattress she had specifically altered for her comfort and plush pillows. He had his arms as his pillow and was almost curled up. She noticed how long his limbs are and how tall he was even while sleeping. 

Crouching down by him she stopped herself from holding her nose, he definitely needed a shower. 

She grabbed a memo pad from her bag and a pen. On it she wrote,

 _Take a shower. Buy some food. And at least get yourself a sleeping bag or something._

She put a hundred dollars in the memo, folding it in half to hide the money. She put the memo pad and pen back in her bag, and held everything securely. 

Then gathering some courage she slipped the note with the money underneath one of his arms to which he stirred a little and she immediately bolted. 

Iris didn’t know when last she’s run that fast, but she kept running and running till she made it to the last train for the night. And headed back home. She was glad she had a tight grip on everything on her. She’d never been so close to a complete stranger in her life. 

“What’re you doing Iris?” She whispered to herself in disbelief. What was she doing? She sure didn’t know. 

***

 **Barry** _The next morning_

Barry woke up with a slight headache, he was used to it by now. But there was something different this morning, he couldn’t forget a strange moment when he woke because he thought someone was near him and it was almost like he saw her - Iris - running away from him. But he figured, that was just his imagination. That was until he sat up and noticed a paper on the ground. 

_Take a shower. Buy some food. And at least get yourself a sleeping bag or something._

He read it with a grin. Was this? Could this have been her? 

Then his smile faded when he saw the hundred dollars. 

“What!?” He was shocked. 

He had never been given that much money. The most was thirty dollars and that was from the pastor so he could get some clothes and vitamins when he was still deficient. Most of what he was given was donations, and in five to ten dollar bills. 

Barry stared at the money in complete bewilderment. And as if he wasn’t begging so far, he suddenly felt like he absolutely could not take this money. He had to return it to her. 

_If_ it was her. 

But he knew it was her. 

It had to be her. 

Barry waited until they started coming in for work, he saw her. He stood up. He wanted to walk up to her, but his feet wouldn’t let him. He could only watch her from afar. She looked stunning. She looked determined. He couldn’t approach her. 

His hands went up to his hair and he ruffled it up in frustration. He couldn’t accept this money. It was way too much. 

“H-hey!” He called out from across the street. Iris turned at his voice and looked surprised, then he noticed the fear in her eyes as she took off into her office building quickly. He built up the strength to cross the street then and walk up to the building, but when he got there the security guard stopped him.

“Excuse me sir, do you have business here?”

“Hi, I - I was given too much - I mean, I can’t accept this.” Barry showed the man the money. 

“Oh! Dang, did you snatch this off somebody? I’m going to call the cops -”

“No!” Iris’ voice came through and Barry’s heart beat quickened. She walked up to them. 

“He’s just the guy across the street. I think someone gave that to him.” She explained to the guard. 

The security guard nodded. 

“Then why’re you coming to show it off to me, if you don’t want it, I’ll gladly take it!” The security guard joked. 

Barry shook his head, completely serious, 

“I can’t accept this.”

“Why not. You need the money, go take care of yourself.” Iris quipped. 

“I won’t accept this.” Barry stated firmly. 

“Shoot. He’s got valor or something.” The security guard laughed. 

“Please take it. Thank ya very much.” Barry extended the money past the man and towards Iris’ direction behind him. 

Iris’ eyes narrowed as she analyzed Barry. 

“Why?”

“I don’t need it.”

“You’re literally sleeping on the ground and you don’t need it?” She asked, getting annoyed. 

Barry smiled at her and nodded. 

“I’m getting a job.” He winked at her with a bigger smile. 

Iris shook her head in annoyance, chuckling a bit before grabbing the hundred dollar bill back from him.

“I _will_ take that shower though.” He told her, still grinning.

“Just leave.” Iris replied simply giving him a polite smile before she walked away. 

“You heard the lady now, you gotta go.” The security guard told Barry as he was watching her walk away. 

“And don’t try coming back here, I know you now. You’re not allowed near here.”

Barry nodded at the man.

“Got ya. I won’t be back here. I have no reason to be.” 

“Good.” 

Barry walked back to his spot across he street. He knew he probably wouldn’t get to talk to her again, but it was worth it to not receive such a great amount from her, he would’ve if it wasn’t given out of pity but it was. And he didn’t need it. For the first time since waking up out of the hospital bed, Barry realized that he really wanted to know who he was and why he ended up in Central City, who was his family? What was he doing? Suddenly he had all the questions he wanted answers to. He asked the pastor a lot, but there’s only so much the man knew. He had to save up to be able to go hire a private investigator and figure out who he was, so he can move on with his future - because he was content living in a blissful ignorant world until he realized that he won’t be able to really live his life if he didn’t know who he was and what he was doing there. 

He found his fake drivers license in the pocket of his pants, it said his last name was ‘Allen’ he believed that was likely true though.

He would start there.

_This work was written by Lspark_


	3. Goodbye - Final Update

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry guys! This was thought about for a long time. But I know this is a decision I have to make.

Hi everyone. 

It’s really sad that this day has come but at the same time it’s a beautiful day and a display of true growth.

While I’m sad, I’m also joyful knowing that there will be fruitfulness by this happening. 

I’ve decided that it’s better I close down this account as well and orphan these set of works on this website.

If you decide to follow my medium page: https://medium.com/@Lightspark you will see different renditions of my WestAllen stories, but it will no longer be based on Barry and Iris. 

My decision for this is simple and complex at the same time, the simple of it is, I’ve grown a lot and I realized that the fandom life is not one I want to live in or really participate in anymore - The Flash as a TV show has been a let down so so many times and it’s just not inspiring work for me as it used to. I’m older and I won’t be able to dedicate as much time to it as I would like to be able to - which means I would continue updating every few months which honestly I don’t really like. When I get inspired, I like to write it all straight away. 

The complex reason is that I am a believer, a follower of Christ. And while I try to implement my faith into my stories - I feel like who I was when I started writing these fan-fictions and what I wrote them for is not who I am today or why I write them now. So, I kind of want my work to be known more for the meaning I put into them, other than just - ‘oh another creative WestAllen fanfiction’ - and the world I was in when writing these stories was one of despair and writing these stories became a clutch for me as I avoided properly dealing with the actual depression, loneliness and sadness that I went through. 

Whereas now that I am breaking into the other side and experiencing true joy and gladness of heart, even with the problems of life still battling me - I’ve realized that I don’t want to hold onto this clutch anymore. 

When I deleted my account previously, I did so because I felt like cutting ties with how I wrote before, I felt like what I wrote was too much and I included themes I don’t really agree with anymore like sleeping around or having a casual relationship with someone. As I matured, hopefully it was clear my stories matured with me. 

I really enjoyed writing _The Specialist_. And I hope and pray that that story blessed you all in some ways. I was hoping to make Francine a believer in that story and that’s why I had Iris and Barry pray and Iris said that moment reminded her of her mom. I still want to write stories like that. Yes, that are gritty and sometimes contain things that are mature, dark and have broken people who are struggling to find or know who they are, because I was there and it’s because it’s real life. 

So, this time it’s not that I can’t continue writing the way I did or use curses or the sleeping around thing, it’s just the attachment that this writing platform has to who I was in the past, and how I want to now break free of that, and be who I am today. 

I think that love is so important in this world. Love and understanding, cherishing each other despite our differences, and caring for one another even when we don’t receive anything in return. It’s a lesson I think I’m going to be learning for life. So if I managed to portray that in my stories somehow I feel like I’ve already accomplished something good on here. 

Also the beauty of WestAllen was that they were two people who loved each other more than anyone else, and they made a committed decision to stay together for the rest of their lives. And I still admire this, but just in a different way. Before I kind of idolized it, I thought that that’s what life is about, find that person that loves you like no one else and then everything else will fall into place. Sometimes that’s how the media portrays love (romantic love, that is) it’s really frustrating sometimes. It’s like, everything is going crap in a girls life but then suddenly a man swoops in and everything ends up being better! But that’s not always the case. 

I tried to use my only completed work and one of my favorites _She’s A Star_ to explain this. Iris couldn’t really be in a relationship with Barry at the time that Barry was ready, but he was so ready that he convinced her otherwise, however it broke down because deep down Iris still hadn’t let go of all the pain and experiences she had when she was with Scott. It took Iris living her own life for a while and realizing that there was healing she needed to go through first. So when she knew she was really ready to deal with her past and let it all go, that’s when she was willing to fight for Barry. To me that story was more realistic (except for Barry somehow becoming an amazing figure skater in such a short period of time lol) than a lot of Hollywood romance movies that make us believe people who go through traumatic experiences can just “find love” and everything will “be all right”. 

So essentially, my mindset has changed, my views have changed, my thoughts have changed…but I’m still using the same platform and the same method to get out the stories that dwell within me? That doesn’t add up to me anymore! I love writing stories. I want to tell stories. Deep down inside I think this is what I’ve always wanted to do. I’ve always wanted to discover something or show something to the world that would make a positive difference. Help people. Share the wonders of life. 

Whatever you believe, however you see the world, I want you to be able to take something away from what I wrote that is going to bless your life, make you smile and hopefully even teach you something. 

So, that’s my mission now. It’s to make an impact. And I’m so grateful for the little impact I was able to make on this website. I know many of you loved my stories, especially my OG _His First Everything_ (which unfortunately will go unfinished), _The Specialist_ \- (which might continue with different names on Medium, not sure…) and _Chasing Dreams_ (which will continue on Medium with different names). 

I just want to continue making an impact on a different platform and on a different scale for a different purpose.

I will also write other stories on my Medium, hopefully as time goes by and I can just write more freely. 

Thank you to all of my readers. More than anything I am sad to leave YOU. I enjoyed writing both to read the comments and see how you’ve interpreted my work or to just know you’d get to read something interesting or a fun update I’ve put in there. I love you all! This journey has been one for the books. I enjoyed being able to create new and exciting moments for WestAllen and also just to portray two people in love and living their lives. It’s been exciting and I hope those who like my work will continue to support me as I move on from this website and platform. 

Thank you to greenemerald for your beautiful analysis of my work and how you really enjoy it. Thank you bruna, thank you Vani_vani, WestAllengirl, Candlelit, Swagstudentmilkshake5, Mangafoxy and everyone else who’s ever commented or kudos-ed my work! Thank you to those who understood when I talked about my growth and changes with my writing. Thank you for supporting me through finishing my Bachelor's degree. 

It’s really sad to have to say goodbye, but it’s also a time to rejoice because that means there’s a new beginning. 

Keep your eyes peeled on my Medium for updates. I’ll be re-installing Chasing Dreams with different names and slightly changed plot - maybe add some details. (If you see anything out there that’s looks like my work but not on my Medium page, it’s not been done by me.)

Take care all! 

Thankfully, 

Lspark :)


End file.
